The private ownership of pay telephone technology has been an added source of revenue for a variety of businesses for some time. The actual cash collection from the coins deposited by users of pay telephone stations is the most obvious source of such revenues. More recently, due to technological advances and changes in the business climate, businesses have been able to add income from long distance telephone calls. With the use of an automated operator service (AOS), a private owner of a telephone can bill users of the telephone for both inter-LATA and intra-LATA long distance calls.
While an AOS can generate revenue where none existed before, they are very inefficient. An AOS usually operates from a central office. Hence, in the case of an intra-LATA call, the call may have to travel hundreds of miles and finally terminate a few miles from its origination point. The unnecessary miles traveled through the network are expensive and this cost is usually borne by the user, through higher long distance rates, or by the owner of the telephone through lower commissions.
Therefore, a need has arisen to provide equipment which can automate and simplify the processes currently handled by a traditional AOS. Specifically, a need has arisen for a pay telephone station which can automatically route long distance calls without the intervention of an outside service.
A substantial portion of long distance calls are placed using telephone credit cards or other billing account numbers. One of the functions now performed by an AOS is the validation of a caller's telephone billing account number prior to the connection of the call. Therefore, a further need has arisen to provide equipment which can automate the validation process as well. Specifically, a need has arisen for a pay telephone station which can locally automatically determine the validity of a billing account number prior to the connection of a long distance call.